How to change a domain's IP address in SmarterMail

This article describes how to change a domain's IP address in SmarterMail, and other requirements for this process.

By default, all Server Intellect Virtual and Dedicated servers which are ordered with SmarterMail are set to use the server's Primary IP address for the mail server, and all domains which utilize the mail server also utilize this IP address. However, it is possible to assign a domain a separate IP address for sending mail.

First, log into SmarterMail as 'admin'.

On the main screen, right-click the domain you wish to change the IP address for, and click 'Edit'.

The main Edit page will contain the IP address used for the domain, as you can see here ending in '.46'. In most cases, it will be the default mail server IP address.

Click the drop-down arrow and select your preferred IP address. For now, let's select the IP address ending in '.50'. Once selected, click 'Save' at the top of the window.

Once saved, it will return you to the main SmarterMail page. Now, we need to set SmarterMail to use the domain's IP rather than specifying to use the Primary IP address for all domains on the server. Click on 'Settings' at the top of the page.

In the Settings menu on the left-hand side, click on 'Protocol Settings'.

On the Protocol Settings page, click on the 'SMTP Out' tab.

Next to the 'Outbound IP' field, click the drop-down and select the option for 'Use the Domains IP'. Once selected, Click Save.

The SmarterMail settings are now in place. Next, we need to edit the domain's DNS records to ensure the domain is able to send from the new IP address. 

Log into the HELM Control Panel as 'admin'.

Once logged in, click on 'Domains'.

Select the domain you have updated the IP address for. In this case, it is 'example.com'.

On the domain options screen, click on 'DNS Zone Editor'.

There are two records on this page which need to be update. The first is the 'mail' record, which controls which IP address that requests to 'mail.example.com' are sent to, thus it needs to be updated with the '.50' address, as you can see here it is still set to use the '.46' address. Click on the 'mail' record.

In the Record Data field, enter the new IP address. Once entered, click Save.

You should now see the update IP address for the 'mail' record. Now, we need to make sure a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) Record is in place. If your mail domain does not have an SPF record, please visit the Knowledge Base article, 'How to create SPF records'.

Once all these settings are in place, the last step to take is to update the IP address's Reverse DNS entry to match the Hostname of the mail server. As this step must be accomplished by a Server Intellect technician, you would need to submit a support ticket via the Unity Customer Portal requesting that the Reverse DNS for the IP address be set to match the mail server's hostname.

If you are unsure of the mail server hostname, you can use the Knowledge Base article, 'How to change the Hostname in SmarterMail' to identify it.

Once the Reverse DNS is set to match the hostname, and the standard DNS propagation time of 24-48 hours has passed, the domain will begin using the new IP address for it's mail server address.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this procedure, or would like assistance with the process, please don't hesitate to contact our Technical Support Department, and they will be more than happy to assist.